Healing (Sequel to Gone)
by ffwriter18
Summary: After finally getting his wife back, Ron, his children, family, and friends must adjust to their new lives. Getting Hermione back was the easy part, getting back to how they were is going to be the hard part. Sequel to Gone.
1. Chapter 1

**Healing (Sequel to Gone) **

**Hi everyone! There was a great amount of reviews requesting a sequel to Gone, so here it is! This story takes place automatically after the first one. Thanks for all the support on the first story and I hope you enjoy this one as well. If you haven't read the first story, I would recommend it to understand this one. Thank you.  
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**Summary: **After finally getting his wife back, Ron, his children, family, and friends must adjust to their new lives. Getting Hermione back was the easy part, getting back to how they were is going to be the hard part. Sequel to Gone.

**Chapter 1**

The back door to the Weasley house opened and the two oldest Weasley children, Rose and Hugo, rushed in and started rambling to their father about their day at their Muggle school. Rose rattled on the fastest, stepping in front of her brother to make sure she was the one focused on. Hugo stood behind her and stared at his older sister crossly. She was always trying to get all of the attention. It wasn't fair.

"Hey, hold on a moment," Ronald Weasley said to his children. Then he pointed over to the refrigerator where their mother, Hermione, was standing. When the children had entered, Hermione had turned her attention to them. Her eyes were wide and hopeful as she looked to her two young children.

Both children went completely still and quiet. Hugo inched back a step and latched on to his father's leg. Rose on the other hand stepped forward and gave her mother a big smile. Then she quickly turned to her father.

"Is she staying?" Her words were laced with excitement and fear. It had been nearly a year since their mother had been at their home with them. For a long time, none of them had thought they would ever see her again. Hermione had been kidnapped almost a year ago by Bellatrix Lestrange's nephew and niece who were now serving time in Azkaban. When Hermione was found, she was quite ill both mentally and physically. They also found out that Hermione had had a child while she was taken. Ron and Harry found the baby, a girl named Charlotte, with the help of a house-elf named Happy. Today was Hermione's first day back at home and it would be the first time they would all be able to be a family.

"Yes," Ron promised, slightly afraid he was lying to his young daughter. Madam Pomfrey might be convinced that being at home was the best thing for Hermione, but Ron wasn't. He wasn't sure _he_ knew how to handle her illness on top of raising three children. To be honest, he was scared he was going to screw up. This is when he needed Hermione. She would know what to do.

"Whoot!" Rose squealed. She hugged her father fiercely and then ran over to her mother, who had Charlotte in her hands. The three month old cooed to her sister and Rose's smile widened.

"Want to hear about my day?" Rose asked Hermione. Hermione slightly nodded. Her eyes glanced over to Hugo, but he stayed firm next to his father. Rose began to rattle on about her day, not even noticing the slight disappointment in her mother's eyes of Hugo not wanting to get near her.

"You need to sit," Ron said a moment later, interrupting Rose's story about her trip to the office for 'accidently' filling the classroom floor with jelly beans.

"It's not like they could prove I did it anyway. They don't believe in magic….." Rose continued, as Ron helped Hermione take a seat at the kitchen table. Hugo had moved to the other side of the kitchen, eyeing his mother carefully.

"Alright you two, go upstairs and start your homework." Both children began running out of the kitchen. Before they were out of sight, Ron called out, "And Rose, we'll talk about your incident at school later." Rose's happy face deflated and she nodded to her father and then headed back upstairs.

Now that both the children were gone, Ron turned to Hermione. She had set Charlotte into her bouncer and was now staring off into space. Her eyes looked glazed over and her face had gone pale. Ron took a seat next to her and pulled her hands into his own, drawing her eyes to his.

"Hey," he murmured softly. His thumbs began rubbing gentle circles on her hands. "Do you want to go lay down? I will let you know when dinner's ready."

Hermione shook her head. Quietly, she replied. "St..stay here, w..with you."

Ron smiled. "Okay."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Nearly an hour later, Ron felt completely overwhelmed. The baby was screaming and wouldn't calm down for anything, the children were complaining that they were starving, the food was burnt, and Hermione was covering her ears with her hands and rocking back and forth on her chair.

"What's wrong with her?" Hugo asked frightened. His hand was pointing to his mother.

"Nothing's wrong with her. She's just not used to all this noise," Ron told his son, as he tried to calm down Charlotte by gently bouncing her. "I need you both to go upstairs so I can try to figure out dinner."

"But we're hungry!" Rose whined.

"Upstairs now," Ron stated pointedly. Both children sighed loudly, but did as they were told. Yet, even with the children gone, everything was a mess. Ron had absolutely no idea what to do now. He felt the urge to call for his mother, but she had already helped him so much these past few weeks that he felt that would be unfair.

Ron placed Charlotte in her bouncer and attempted bouncing her a few times, but her squeals only became stronger.

"Okay," he soothed, picking her back up. She wasn't hungry, she wasn't wet, and it was too early for her to be teething. He had no idea how to calm her down. He didn't even know where to start with Hermione, who was still rocking in her seat. Ron sat down next to her and tilted his head back. It was going to be a long night.

And then, as if the elf had a sixth sense or something, Happy apparated right into their kitchen.

"Has sir decided if he wants Happy for his house-elf?" Happy questioned, her eyes falling immediately on the fussy infant.

"Oh yes, please!" Ron stated quickly. "At least for tonight. The kids are hungry, Charlotte is upset, and Hermione isn't handling the change well."

Without another word, Happy had Charlotte in her arms and the baby was fast asleep in an instant.

"How…?" Ron questioned, but Happy shook her head.

"Where does she sleep?" Ron told the elf where his room was and Happy was gone. During this time, Ron gently placed his hands on Hermione's arms and slowly pulled them away from her ears. As she looked up at Ron, he could see that her eyes were wet with tears. Pulling her into his arms, he rubbed her back and murmured into her ear, "It's alright. Shh, everything is going to be okay."

After the baby was in her bed, Happy was downstairs cleaning up the mess Ron had made and began dinner. Dinner was promptly served and everyone enjoyed their meals. Rose and Hugo were especially excited about their new guest. They had never met a house-elf before, even though they had heard a lot about Kreacher, their uncle's house-elf.

"Okay, time for bed," Happy told the children.

"Will you read us a story?" Hugo questioned Happy.

"Of course, Master Hugo," Happy said. "Get all ready for bed and I will come up and read to you."

Ron couldn't be more thrilled with how things were turning out. Happy was more help than he had expected her to be. In less than an hour, Happy came down to report that all three of the Weasley children were tucked safely in their beds and were fast asleep. By this time, Ron and Hermione had moved to the living room. Hermione was still awake and her body would shake every ten minutes or so. Ron continually had to calm her down.

"Thanks, Happy. You have been such a great help. How would you like to work for us until Hermione gets her strength back?" At this, Happy was sobbing and throwing herself on the floor.

"Master Weasley is so generous to Happy! Happy would love to serve you and your family."

"Alright," Ron said, slightly embarrassed. Happy wiped her tears with her dirty smock and stood up to face her new master.

"What shall Happy do for Master Weasley now?"

"First we need to set up how you will be compensated."

"Compensated?" Happy looked appalled. Again, she began to sob. Ron rolled his eyes. Hermione was starting to drift off to sleep in his arms and Ron could feel her getting heavier on his chest.

"We'll talk about it in a moment, let me go put Hermione into the bed." While Happy sobbed in the living room, Ron carried his wife up the stairs and into their bedroom. When he entered the room, Ron realized that this was the first time they would be sharing a bed together in nearly a year. Instead of the thought making him happy, it frightened him. What if his presence scared her in the middle of the night? What if she didn't know where she was? Deciding not to focus on the what ifs, Ron tucked her into the bed and kissed her forehead.

A moment later, he was back downstairs and saw that Happy was vacuuming the floor. Upon seeing her new master, Happy snapped and the vacuum disappeared.

"Hermione doesn't believe in elves not being free. So to be our house-elf, you have to know that at any time you wish, you can leave."

"But Happy would never want to leave you, Master Weasley," Happy bowed to her new master.

"Second, you will need to get paid." Before Happy could burst into tears, Ron stopped her by lifting her up by her smock and setting her on the couch. "No tears." Immediately, Happy's eyes were dry.

"You will also need time off." It took a while, but Ron and Happy were finally able to agree on leave and pay. Ron kept trying to insist on paying Happy well and giving him plenty of time off, but Happy struggled against it every time. While Ron wasn't very happy with the little Happy asked for, he finally agreed thinking maybe he could sneak a little bit more money to him each time.

"Come upstairs with me," Ron ordered. Happy followed quickly behind her new master and into the upstairs hallway. "We have two guest rooms. One will be for Charlotte and the other is for you. Which room do you want?"

A loud gasp left Happy's lips and Ron had to cover her mouth with his hand. "Shh, don't wake Hermione or the children!"

Quietly, but excitedly, Happy said, "Happy can't believe she gets her own room! Master Weasley is such a generous master!"

"Just pick a room," Ron said, unamused. Happy chose the room furthest from the rest. "Good, no go on to bed now. I will see you in the morning." Happy bowed low, nearly touching her nose on the floor, and then disappeared into her bedroom.

Glad that that was settled, Ron went back into his own room. Charlotte was still fast asleep in her small bassinet next to the bed. Her hands were curled up next to her sides and her small chest rose and fell with every breath. Then he turned to his wife. Hermione didn't look nearly as peaceful as his young daughter. Her face was ashen and worry creased her features. He wanted to climb into the bed and hold her, but again he was afraid. This was territory that he nor Hermione had been in for almost a year. And things weren't the same as they were before she left. Sighing, Ron resigned to making a mat for himself on the floor and sleeping there. He didn't want to push his wife too quickly.

As he stepped out into the hallway to get more blankets and pillows, Ron checked in on Rose and Hugo. He was happy to see they both looked content and deep asleep. After feeling sure his family was safe for the night, Ron fixed his make shift bed on the floor and went to sleep.

**To be continued? Let me know if you would like more!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! I was so excited to see how many people wanted to see more of this story! Thank you so much for all the reviews, follows, and favorites! This chapter is kind of short, because it wouldn't do what I wanted it to do. Thanks again and enjoy! **

**Chapter 2**

Ron couldn't have been asleep for that long, when he jerked awake at the sound of piercing screams. It took him a moment to figure out if the screams were in his dreams or happening right now, because as he sat up the room was silent. He blinked his weary eyes and sat up slowly, just as another scream rang through the room. Then he realized, they weren't screams. It was crying. The baby was awake.

Getting up quickly, Ron hurried over to the bassinet and picked up the squealing infant. Charlotte continued to cry and Ron swiftly figured out why. Charlotte was soaking wet.

"Shh," Ron murmured, rocking the baby close to him. He clicked on the bedside light and carried the baby to the changing table. It was then that he noticed Hermione was awake. She was sitting up with the covers pulled up to her chest. Her hair was wild and eyes wide.

"It's okay," he told her. "Charlotte just needs a change. That's all." But Hermione wasn't hearing him. Her hands immediately jerked to her ears, her eyes squeezed shut, and a scream passed through her lips.

"Bloody hell," Ron muttered to himself, as Charlotte began to cry louder. His doubt about Hermione being home was growing. How was he supposed to help her heal, raise a baby, and keep Rose and Hugo from being destroyed from all of this?

Sighing, Ron returned his attention to the small infant. Her face had turned scarlet from all her wailing and her fist were balled up angrily at her side. Ron peeled off her nightgown and threw it in the basket next to the bed.

"Shh, shh," he whispered. "Please, Charlotte." Despite his pleas, Charlotte was still pitching a fit. Luckily, Hermione was no longer screaming. She had curled herself into a ball and was still covering her ears. Ron decided to take one crisis at a time. He knew that he had Happy there to help, but he couldn't just turn to her every time things went wrong. He had to be able to prove to himself that he could handle this.

After Charlotte was all cleaned up, Ron realized he still needed to clean the bassinet. Holding the screaming Charlotte in one hand, he picked up his wand and cast the charm to clean up the messy bassinet. It didn't work. The bassinet just shook a little.

"Merlin's beard," Ron cursed under his breath. Bouncing Charlotte, he tried again. It still didn't work. He tried several more times before giving up. He assumed being tired and stressed was impeding his spell.

"Happy," he finally called, feeling slightly bad for waking the elf. The elf, however, seemed happy to be called.

"Yes, sir!" Happy said excitedly. "Happy heard the noises, but remembered what Master said. Master said not to come into the bedroom unless Happy was called. Happy followed directions."

"Thanks, Happy," Ron said mid-yawn. "Can you please feed Charlotte? Also, can you move her into your room for tonight?"

"Oh course Master Weasley!" Happy replied. Happy took the baby from Ron's arms and snapped her finger. The bassinet disappeared from the room. "Sleep well, Master. Let Happy know if you need anything else."

Happy disappeared from the room. It was then Ron realized he smelled of urine. Again, Ron tried the charm to clean his clothes and it worked. Ron wanted to collapse back on his pallet, but he had to worry about his wife now. Ron climbed onto his bed and wrapped his arms around Hermione. She was shaking.

"Hey, it's okay," Ron whispered into her ear. "You are home. You are going to be okay." Ron wasn't sure if his wife could hear him, but her body seemed to calm down. And soon after, they both were asleep.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Bickering outside his bedroom door is what woke Ron up the next morning. He could hear Rose telling Hugo what to do and Hugo was loudly informing her that she wasn't the boss of him. As his body awoke, he found himself still wrapped around Hermione. He slowly pulled away from her and she remained asleep. Looking over to the clock on his left, he snapped up.

"Merlin," he muttered. Jumping up as quietly as he possibly could. The children had to be at school in less than an hour. How could he oversleep? This was a disaster. Ron ran his fingers through his hair to tidy it up and then stepped into the hallway, where his children were still having their row.

"That's enough," he told them strongly. They both quieted. Ron's eyes panned over each of his children. They were already dressed for school. "How….Why…." Usually he had to struggle with Hugo to get out of bed in the morning, much less for him to get ready.

"Happy told us to get up and get dressed. She's cooking breakfast downstairs," Rose told her father. "I was just telling Hugo to get his homework so I could check over it."

Ron ignored her last comment and sighed in content. Thank Merlin for that house-elf.

"Go on downstairs and I will be down in a minute," Ron said.

"Will Mum be at breakfast?" Hugo asked, his eyes wide.

"Probably not. She's going to need a lot of sleep." Hugo let out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, see you downstairs!" Hugo said, running down the stairs. Rose crossed her arms.

"He doesn't have his homework."

"Let me worry about your brother, Rose. Go on downstairs."

Thanks to Happy, both children were fed a healthy breakfast and sent to school in a timely manner thirty minutes later. Happy remained downstairs to clean the kitchen while Ron made his way back toward his bedroom. He was still exhausted from his night and was quite grateful that the kids had to be at school today.

When he made it to his bedroom, Hermione was awake. Her eyes were rimmed in red and her cheeks were wet. Seeing Ron enter, her eyes brightened slightly. However, she looked worse for wear.

"Hey," Ron said softly. He climbed back into the bed and pulled her into his arms. Hermione's head rested on his chest, before a few more tears fell down her cheeks.

"B..bad sleep," she told him. It was at that moment Ron felt like an idiot. Madam Pomfrey had given him a potion to give Hermione before bed so that she could have a dreamless sleep. With all the commotion the night before it had slipped his mind.

"Blimey, Hermione," Ron muttered. "I'm so sorry." He could only imagine what her dreams were filled with last night. He still didn't know the full extent of what she had suffered while she was gone. His hand caressed her back.

"We will figure this out," he promised her. "I can't promise that I will do it perfectly, but I can promise that I won't let anything happen to you again."

**To be continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks everyone for the reviews! I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

**Chapter 3**

The next few days were a blur. The kids were busy with school and homework, Charlotte wanted constant attention, Hermione was against any type of change in her schedule, and Ron was just trying to keep afloat. Thank Merlin for Happy. She kept everything in the house in order so that it was less things for Ron to worry about. He really felt like she needed a raise in pay for all the work she was doing, but Happy wouldn't hear it.

"No Master Weasley!" Happy exclaimed. "Happy enjoys working for the family. Happy loves her new family. Happy is happy!"

And that was the end of that.

Today Ron had an appointment at the hospital for a check up for Charlotte. She was nearing four months and they wanted to make sure she was developing normally for her age, since she had been without healer care for the first three months of her life.

"Come with?" Hermione questioned as she held Charlotte close to her chest. Hermione and Happy seemed to be the only two who could calm a crying Charlotte with just the simple act of picking her up.

"Of course," Ron answered with a bright smile. It was the first time Hermione would be leaving the house since she had gotten home. They left Happy home alone to do whatever she wanted and the two of them left for their first outing with their baby girl.

Since the appointment wasn't for another hour, Ron decided to take Hermione to Diagon Alley to get some ice cream. The streets were relatively bare. It was in the middle of the work day, so most were gone. That made it the perfect setting for Hermione's first time out. He didn't want to overwhelm her too much.

Glancing over to his wife, Ron noticed that her eyes were wide. Not of fear, however, amazement. Hermione smiled widely and took his hand a moment later. She pulled him toward Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

"I dunno, 'Mione," Ron said, pulling back against her. "It's pretty loud in there. I'm not sure you can take it."

Hermione's lips pierced together defiantly. It reminded him of Rose when she wouldn't take no for an answer.

"I'll be fine," she answered. She let go of Ron's hand and quickly made her way to the shop. Ron sighed in frustration, but followed behind her pushing Charlotte's pram on its way.

Amazingly enough, Hermione flourished in the shop. She chatted more than she had the entire week. It was almost like he had his wife back for a few moments. When a toy exploded, she burst into laughter. She had fun putting on the headless hats and playing with the Pigmy Puffs. If he could, Ron would have allowed her to stay there forever.

"Come on, Hermione, we need to get Charlotte to the healer's office."

The hospital was a different story. When they entered the doors, all of the light disappeared from Hermione's eyes. Even though she had insisted on coming along, she started backing away from the hallway.

"It'll be alright," Ron promised her, pulling her along. Ron signed them in for the appointment and then led Hermione to a seat in the waiting room. The waiting room was full of wizards and witches and their young. Sitting next to them was a wizard with triplet two year olds. They were all connected at the hip and crying aimlessly.

"Their older sister thought it would be funny if they were conjoined triplets," the father explained. Ron chuckled humourlessly and returned his attention to his wife and daughter. Charlotte was deep asleep in her pram and Hermione began rocking back and forth in her seat.

"Shh," Ron murmured. "It's alright. This won't take long."

But he was wrong. The office was completely backed up and it wasn't until an hour and a half later that they were even seen. By then, Charlotte was completely awake and screaming for a bottle. Had Happy not thought ahead and packed an extra just in case, it could have been disastrous. It was crazy the things Ron didn't think about that Hermione had always taken care of when Rose and Hugo were babies. While he knew he was a good father, there were just things that he, as a father and not a mother, didn't always think about.

"Charlotte Weasley?"

"Finally," Ron stated, picking up his daughter and walking her to the healer. He turned to Hermione. "Are you coming?"

Hermione shook her head, her eyes warily looking through the door to the rooms.

"Okay, stay right here and we will be back soon."

The healer ran some simple test on Charlotte and ran her wand over her. The little girl kept reaching out for the wand.

"She's completely healthy," the healer told Ron. Ron let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding in. "Charlotte is right on target as well."

"Thanks," Ron said breathily. He was so overjoyed to hear his daughter was just fine. He often worried about her development after everything, but he should have known Charlotte was perfect.

When he left the office and stepped into the waiting room, Ron's heart sank. Hermione was gone. She no longer sat in the chair he left her in. Checking his watch, Ron saw they had only been with the healer for fifteen minutes. Where could she have gone?

Pushing the pram down the halls of the hospital, Ron kept asking everyone he saw if they had seen his wife. Everyone shook their head. No one had seemed to see her leave. This was bad. He had lost his wife. She still wasn't herself yet and he wasn't sure if she knew how to take care of herself.

Ron walked down every hallway of the hospital, peeking his head into open rooms. Still there was no sign of her. It wasn't until he got to the maternity ward that he finally spotted her. She was standing in front of the large glass where on the other side lay the newly born babies. Her face was near the glass and her hands were pressed open on it.

"Hermione?" He whispered, not wanting to startle her. Hearing her name, Hermione slowly turned her head. This was when Ron could see her eyes were brimmed with tears. "'Mione? What's wrong?" He said quietly.

"T…took…." Hermione cried, her face turning back to the window. "They took her!"

"Took who?" Ron was puzzled. What was she talking about?

Hermione began banging her hands against the glass. Ron's eyes widened. He went over to his wife and snatched her hands away from the window. But Hermione had already lost it. Her entire body began to shake and she was screaming loudly.

"No! No! No!"

"Shh," Ron tried to soothe. "Shh. What's wrong?" She was still screaming and Ron felt completely helpless.

"Baby!" She cried, her body falling onto the floor. "Took baby!"

That's when it hit him. Hermione was back in that place where those monsters took Charlotte from her. She was reliving those moments back now. He pulled her tightly into his embrace and ignored the onlookers in the hallway.

"We got her back," he said quietly into her ear. "Look, she's right there." Hermione didn't seem to hear him. Her screams had quieted, however, into a harsh sobbing.

"It's okay. It's okay," he repeated over and over.

It wasn't until an hour later when they were able to head home.

By the time they got home, Ron, Hermione, and Charlotte were exhausted. Rose and Hugo wanted to tell Ron all about their days, but Ron told them it would have to wait for another day. He let Happy feed all three children and put them in bed, while he focused on settling Hermione down for the night.

Ron gave Hermione her sleepless potion and she was asleep within seconds. Ron tucked her into the bed and sighed, knowing he would have eight hours to rest himself. He knew that Happy would take good care of the children, so he showered and got ready for bed himself. Once again, he questioned if he was ready for this. Maybe Hermione hadn't been ready to come home, yet.

Getting into the bed, Ron turned off the lights and looked at his wife. She was sleeping peacefully, but her cheeks were still pale and sunken in. He wasn't sure that he was ever going to have his wife back again. Before closing his eyes, Ron decided not to take his wife out for a while. Not until she was herself again.

**To be continued...**


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